Connector

ABSTRACT

A connector includes a connector assembly is supported by a moveable member that can move relative to a printed wired board in two directions and is urged to its center position by two oppositely disposed springs that each urge a contact member into a respective recess.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electrical connectors for couplingelectronic devices to another device, for example in desk stands orother cradles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Stroke type pairs e.g. between digital cameras and their desk stands areknown in the art. Perfect alignment between the connectors just beforeestablishing the connection is very difficult to achieve and a certaindegree of misalignment has to be accepted. In known desk stand solutionsthese tolerances are handled with one or two floating printed wiredboards and with one captive cable that is fixed/soldered permanently tothe printed wired board inside the desk stand or inside the desk standthere is floating printed wired board and a separate flexible printedcircuit connected to the external I/O connector. Known floatingconnectors often have only one direction of movement and/or are not selfcentering and/or have a complicated construction.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

On this background, it is an object of the present invention to providea moveable or floating connector that at least partially overcomes theproblems described above. This object is achieved in accordance withclaim 1 by providing a self centering moveable connector comprising afixed printed wired board; an electrical connector assembly carried by amoveable member; the moveable member being moveable in the plane of theprinted wired board in two directions and the moveable member having acentral position relative to the printed wired board; two oppositelydisposed resilient members urging the moveable member towards itscentral position in the two directions in which the moveable member canmove.

Thus, a relatively simple self centering floating/moveable connectorwith two degrees of freedom is realized.

The connector may further comprise a contact member that is urged by theresilient member into a recess that is formed in one of the componentsof the connector, the recess being positioned so that the connector isin its center position in a first of the two directions when the contactmember is urged into contact with the deepest portion of the recess andwherein any deviation of the center position in the first directioncauses the contact member to be forced to move away from the deepestportion against the force of the resilient member.

The contact member may interact with a recess in a stationary part ofthe connector, with the resilient member being disposed between themoveable member and the contact member. Alternatively, the contactmember may interact with a recess in a moveable part of the connector,with the resilient member being disposed between a stationary member ofthe connector and the contact member.

The contact member can be an integral part of the resilient member.

The resilient member can be a leave spring.

The contact member can be formed by a curved portion at the free end ofthe leave spring.

The moveable member may comprise a bracket that is wrapped around theprinted wired board for controlling the distance between the printedwired board and the moveable member.

Electrical contact between the electrical connector assembly and theprinted wired board may include resilient contacts that interact withcontact surfaces.

The moveable member can be suspended from the printed wired board.

It is another object of the invention to provide a self centeringmoveable connector comprising a fixed printed wired board, an electricalconnector assembly carried by a moveable member, the moveable memberbeing moveable in the plane of the printed wired board in two directionsand the moveable member having a central position relative to theprinted wired board, the electrical connector assembly beingelectrically connected to the printed wired board by resiliently contactmembers that are in sliding contact with surface contacts.

Thus, the flowing connector is obtained that does not need to useflexible printed circuit board or the like before establishing aconnection between the static printed wired port and the connectorblock.

The surface contacts can be disposed on the printed wired board and theresilient contacts are carried by the electrical connector assembly.

The resilient contacts can be biased towards the respective surfacecontact

The resilient contacts can be pogo contacts.

The resilient contacts can be spring wire contacts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide method ofassembling a housing for a moveable connector that requires a lessprecise handling of the housing parts.

This object is achieved by providing a method of assembling a housingfor moveable connector, the housing comprising at least two housingparts that are connected to one another with a given toleratedinaccuracy, the method comprising exploiting the moveable capacity ofthe connector during the assembly of the two housing parts to compensatefor the tolerated inaccuracy.

Further objects, features, advantages and properties of the moveableconnector to the invention will become apparent from the detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following detailed portion of the present description, theinvention will be explained in more detail with reference to theexemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a docking cradle including a moveableconnector according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is an elevational exploded view of the docking cradle shown inFIG. 1 with the moveable connector visible,

FIG. 3 is an exploded elevational view of some of the components of themoveable connector shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the moveable connector shown in FIG. 2with some parts of the connector being represented as transparent forillustrative purposes, and

FIG. 5 is elevational view on a detail of the moveable connector shownin FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, the connector according to theinvention will be described by the preferred embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 1 the movable/floating connector according to anembodiment of the invention is included in a cradle or desk stand 1. Thecradle 1 includes a housing 10 that includes a base 12 the housing 10defines a bay 14. The bay 14 is designed for receiving a portion of aperipheral device, such as a mobile phone, a personal navigationassistant, a music or multimedia player, a camera, a palmtop computerother portable or mobile electronic device for creating an electricalconnection therewith and for supporting the peripheral device.

An electrical connector assembly 20 is placed at the bottom of the bay10.

With reference to FIG. 2 the electrical connector assembly 20 issuspended from a printed wired board 30. Another connector assembly 40is attached to the printed wired board 30. The connector assembly 40 isfixed (not moveable/floating) and serves to connect the cradle 1 via acable to another device (not shown). The connector assembly 40 could forexample be a USB connector that can be used to connect the cradle 1 andthe peripheral device to a computer (not shown).

The printed wired board 30 is secured to the base 12 with spacers at thecorners of the printed wired board 30 for keeping a certain distancebetween the printed wired board 30 and the base 12.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the components of the moveable and self centeringconnector in greater detail. The connector assembly 20 is carried by amoveable member 22 that is formed as a bracket with inwardly directedledges 24 that wrap around in the printed wired board 30. The ledges 24control the distance between the moveable member 22 and the uppersurface of the printed wired board 30. The width of the moveable member22 and the width of the printed wired board are chosen such that thereis space for placing resilient members 28 between the bracket and thesides of the printed wired board 30. The resilient members will bedescribed in greater detail herebelow.

The opposing long sides of the printed wired board 30 are each providedwith a recess 32, that is shaped to receive a resiliently urged contactmember that will be described herebelow. The recess 32 may be archshaped, V-shaped or may have any other shape that results in a recesswith a deepest central portion.

The printed wired board 30 is provided with a plurality of surfacecontacts 36 that establish electrical connection with the connectorassembly 20 by resilient contacts 26 (spring wire contacts) that areprovided in the connector assembly 20. The resilient contacts 26 urgethe moveable member 22 with the connector assembly thereon in an upwarddirection, but this movement is limited by the ledges 24. In anembodiment (not shown) pogo contacts/pogo pins are used instead of theleave spring contacts (pogo contacts being spring biased plunger typecontacts). The arrangement of the surface contacts 36 and the resilientcontacts 26 allows the connector assembly 20 to move above the printedwired board 30 over a limited extent in any direction parallel to planeof the printed wired board 30 the whilst being electrically connected tothe printed wired board 30.

Inside the bracket of the moveable member 28 a resilient member 28 isprovided on each side of the printed wired board 30.

As can be seen in detail in FIG. 5, the resilient members 28 are leafsprings that have one of their ends attached to the moveable member 22with their other free end forming a contact member 29 that fits into therespective recess 32 in the side of the printed wired board 30. In thisembodiment that the contact members 29 are formed by an arch shaped endportion of the leave springs 28. However, it is understood that thecontact member 29 does not need to be exactly arch shaped as long as ithas a shape that allows the creation of a reactive force with thesurface of the recess 32 in the correct direction. Further, the contactmember 29 does not need to be an integral part of the spring.

The recesses 32 are shown as arch shaped recesses, but it is understoodthat V-shaped recesses or any other recesses with a shape that convergesto a central deepest portion would be suitable for use with the presentinvention.

The recesses 32 are positioned such that the connector assembly 20 is inits center position when the contact members 29 are fully received intothe respective recess 32, i.e. the contact members 29 are in contactwith the deepest portion of the recesses 32.

The contact member 29 and the recess 32 have shapes that are adjusted toone another with the aim of ensuring that a movement of the moveablemember 22 relative to the printed wired board 30 in the direction of thearrow “y” results in a compression of the leave spring 28 and results ina reactive force caused by the shapes of the contact member 29 and therecess 32 that urges the moveable member 22 back to the center positionin the “y” direction.

The balance between the opposing leaf springs 28 on each side of theprinted wired board 30 urges the moveable member 22 and the connectorassembly 20 back to the center position in the “x” direction when themoveable member 22 gets outside its center position in the “x”direction.

Thus, a combination of two opposing balanced resilient members andcontact members that are urged by the resilient members into recesseswith a suitable shape and a position allows the connector to float inany direction in a given plane and be self centering.

The construction of the connector according to the embodiment describedabove may be reversed (not shown), with the leave brings being connectedto the printed wired board and the recesses being formed in the moveablemember. Further, any other type of springs that are capable of urging acontact member into a recess are suitable for use with the presentinvention.

According to another embodiment (not shown) there can be more than twosprings that bias the moveable part of the connector to its centerposition. For example, there could be three resilient members that havetheir spring force and travel directed in the plane of movement of themoveable member, such as three or four leave springs or three or fourcoil springs that are essentially distributed at substantially equalangular distance around the moveable member. In such an embodiment withthree or more springs it would not be necessary to deploy recesses inthe edges of the printed wired board and the corresponding to contactmembers at the ends of the present and members, since the three or moreresilient members will be able to bias the flowing member towards itscenter position in both the x and y direction without the need for torecesses and engagement members.

According to an embodiment (not shown) the connector is part of a mobileelectronic device, e.g. a media player, a mobile phone, a navigationdevice, a photo camera, a PC or, a laptop or a palmtop or the like andany complementary electronic devices thereto.

During assembly of the housing 10 with the base 12, a given inaccuracytolerance between the assembled housing parts has to be accepted since aperfect tolerance cannot be achieved in a commercial production. Duringthe assembly of the housing part 10 onto the base 12 the floating andself centering capacity of the connector block 20 is exploited. Theconnector block 20 will move to adapt to any possible misalignmentbetween the opening in the bay 14 and the connector block 20 when thetwo housing parts 10,12 are assembled. Thus, any misalignment betweenhousing parts 10,12 will not lead to problems with the connector blocknot being able to pass through the opening in the bottom of the bay 14.

The invention has numerous advantages. Different embodiments orimplementations may yield one or more of the following advantages. Itshould be noted that this is not an exhaustive list and there may beother advantages which are not described herein. One advantage of theinvention is that it provides for a moveable and self centeringconnector with two degrees of freedom that is a relatively simple inconstruction. Another advantage of the invention is that it provides fora moveable connector with only one stationary printed wired board.

Another advantage of the invention is that it does not require the useof a flexible printed circuit or cable for connecting a connectorassembly to a printed wired board.

The term “comprising” as used in the claims does not exclude otherelements or steps. The term “a” or “an” as used in the claims does notexclude a plurality.

Whilst endeavoring in the foregoing specification to draw attention tothose features of the invention believed to be of particular importanceit should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respectof any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbeforereferred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particularemphasis has been placed thereon. Moreover, it should be appreciatedthat those skilled in the art, upon consideration of the presentdisclosure, may make modifications and/or improvements on the apparatushereof and yet remain within the scope and spirit hereof as set forth inthe following claims.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A connector comprising a fixed printed wired board;an electrical connector assembly carried by a moveable member; saidmoveable member being moveable in the plane of the printed wired boardin two directions and said moveable member having a central positionrelative to the printed wired board; two substantially oppositelydisposed resilient members urging the moveable member towards itscentral position in said two directions in which the moveable member canmove.
 20. A connector according to claim 19, further comprising acontact member that is urged by the resilient member into a recess thatis formed in one of the components of the connector, said recess beingpositioned so that the connector is in its center position in a first ofsaid two directions when the contact member is urged into contact withthe deepest portion of the recess and wherein any deviation of thecenter position in said first direction causes the contact member to beforced to move away from said deepest portion against the force of theresilient member.
 21. A connector according to claim 20, wherein saidcontact member interacts with a recess in a stationary part of saidconnector, with said resilient member being disposed between saidmoveable member and said contact member.
 22. A connector according toclaim 20, wherein said contact member interacts with a recess in amoveable part of the connector, with said resilient member beingdisposed between a stationary member of the connector and said contactmember.
 23. A connector according to any of claims 20, wherein saidcontact member is an integral part of the resilient member.
 24. Aconnector according to claim 23, wherein said resilient member is aleave spring.
 25. A connector according to claim 24, wherein saidcontact member is formed by a curved portion at the free end of saidleave spring.
 26. A connector according to any of claims 20, whereinsaid moveable member comprises a bracket that is substantially wrappedaround the printed wired board for controlling the distance between theprinted wired board and the moveable member.
 27. A connector accordingto any of claims 20, wherein electrical contact between said electricalconnector assembly and said printed wired board includes resilientcontacts that interact with surface contacts.
 28. A connector accordingto any of claims 20, wherein said moveable member is suspended from saidprinted wired board.
 29. A connector comprising: a fixed printed wiredboard; an electrical connector assembly carried by a moveable member;said moveable member being moveable in the plane of the printed wiredboard in two directions and said moveable member having a centralposition relative to the printed wired board; said electrical connectorassembly being electrically connected to the printed wired board byresiliently contact members that are in sliding contact with surfacecontacts.
 30. A connector according to claim 29, wherein said surfacecontacts are disposed on the printed wired board and the resilientcontact are carried by the electrical connector assembly.
 31. Aconnector according to claim 29, wherein said resilient contacts arebiased towards the respective surface contact.
 32. A connector accordingto any of claims 29, wherein said resilient contacts are pogo contacts.33. A connector according to any of claims 29, wherein said resilientcontacts are spring wire contacts.
 34. A connector according to any ofclaims 29, wherein said moveable member comprises a bracket that issubstantially wrapped around the printed wired board for controlling thedistance between the printed wired board and the moveable member.
 35. Anelectronic device including a connector according to claim
 29. 36. Anelectronic device including a connector according to claim
 19. 37. Amethod of assembling a housing for a moveable connector, said housingcomprising at least two housing parts that are connected to one anotherwith a given tolerated inaccuracy, said method comprising exploiting themoveable capacity of the connector during the assembly of the twohousing parts to compensate for the tolerated inaccuracy.